Li Zhen was utterly bewildered. He had no acquaintances in the Ling Kingdom.
In his impression, the Ling Kingdom was merely one of the Nine Provinces and Six Kingdoms, included just to make up the numbers. Its presence was truly negligible.
Moreover, its territory was far smaller than Great Yu's, so he had never paid any attention to it.
But he had no time to concern himself with that now. The man had vanished without a trace, looking almost like a thief.
Someone capable of mobilizing so many weapons and provisions from the Ling Kingdom was clearly no ordinary person.
He could not figure it out, but he did not need to.
If someone was giving him things, he would simply accept them!
Although these things were not particularly useful to him.
“Take everything back!”
Li Zhen examined the letter in his hand, and a name suddenly appeared in his mind.
Xue Duling?
The Empress of Ling?
Apart from her, it seemed no one else could mobilize these supplies from the Ling Kingdom, cross the border pass, and send them here.
The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that it was her.
But Li Zhen truly did not know her.
He had never even met her.
Strange.
Could he actually have the constitution of an incubus?
.....
The Ling Kingdom.
After receiving the message, Xue Duling revealed two faint dimples on her stunning face.
“He should not realize that I was the one who sent it, right?”
The old chancellor beside her was speechless inside.
How could he possibly not know? With Li Zhen's intelligence, it would be strange if he could not guess.
The conspicuous markings on the weapons made it easy to connect them with Xue Duling's identity.
That had been intentional on his part. He could have sent weapons without imprinted markings.
But why do that?
Since they had already been sent, she wanted it to be apparent.
He would never say these things aloud. Since Xue Duling wanted it this way, he would simply cooperate.
It would make Li Zhen remember her favor.
Whether he would ever be useful or not was beside the point; as long as Li Zhen remembered, that was enough.
If Great Yu destroyed him, then none of this would matter. But if he truly managed to establish himself in Dan Prefecture, who knew which of them might need the other in the future?
Even if one does not eat it, food remains in the belly; even if one does not take the road, the road remains.
However, the old chancellor was not very optimistic about Li Zhen's future. It was said that Shao Xuxue had already headed for the Northern Cold Pass.
Who in the Nine Provinces and Six Kingdoms did not know that Great Yu had one civil and one military pillar? The civil pillar was Li Zhen, and the military pillar was Shao Xuxue.
……
The following day.
Northern Cold Pass.
Wang Xiao led the various subordinate generals and respectfully stood guard at the city gate of the Northern Cold Pass, on Great Yu's side.
Xuan Yue was being forced to kneel on the ground.
After returning to the Northern Cold Pass, Liu Zhou and the other Black Cavalry recounted the entire sequence of events in full. For a time, the Black Cavalry became furious.
The ten thousand men remaining in the Black Cavalry Camp had joined Liu Zhou in coming to tell Shao Xuxue everything and ask her to deliver justice for them!
Wang Xiao glanced at the sunlight in the sky.
At this hour, she should be arriving soon!
Xuan Yue, kneeling on the ground, felt his heart rise into his throat. Given the current situation, he could not guarantee that Zhao Bugui would still shield him!
Just as everyone was in a different state of mind, two figures came galloping rapidly from the distance.
Wang Xiao immediately lowered his head and knelt on one knee!
Clatter!
All the martial generals of the Northern Cold Pass knelt on the ground in unison.
“Greetings, Great General Princess!”
Not kneeling while wearing armor was a privilege of martial generals, but Shao Xuxue was an exception. From childhood, she had displayed extraordinary military talent.
She had once personally led troops to repel six attacks by Great Qing, and at Shanshui Pass had used one hundred thousand troops to hold back Great Qing's five hundred thousand!
She had become famous in a single battle!
Great General Princess was a title belonging solely to her!
“Whoa!”
Shao Xuxue reined in her horse before the crowd, bringing it to a halt. When her gaze fell upon the tightly bound Xuan Yue, confusion appeared on her face.
“What does this mean?”
Her cool, distant voice came from Shao Xuxue's lips.
“Reporting to the Great General Princess, black cavalry commander Xuan Yue abandoned ten thousand black cavalry on the Dan Prefecture battlefield and fled alone to save himself. Afterward…”
Wang Xiao slowly and breathlessly explained the entire sequence of events. Immediately afterward, Liu Zhou let out a sobbing cry, and all the Black Cavalry knelt on the ground!
“We beg the Great General Princess to clear our names!”
Xuan Yue's mouth was tightly gagged, and he implored Zhao Bugui behind Shao Xuxue with his eyes.
But the man he was imploring simply shifted his gaze elsewhere.
He could not save Xuan Yue now.
He could not bear the lives of tens of thousands of people on his shoulders.
Moreover, this did not concern only the Black Cavalry of the Northern Cold Pass Military Camp.
The entire Great Yu Black Cavalry numbered one hundred thousand, distributed among the various Border Passes.
This matter would spread sooner or later. By then, the karmic power would be too great for him to bear.
The killing intent flashing across Shao Xuxue's already cold face grew even sharper.
She had not expected so many things to have happened at the Northern Cold Pass over the past two days.
And the Black Cavalry, Great Yu's elite troops, had actually suffered nearly seven thousand casualties!
Most of them had even died at the hands of their own comrades!
This was utterly absurd!
“A general who does not live and die alongside his soldiers already deserves death. To recklessly massacre Great Yu's army for the sake of self-preservation is an even more unforgivable crime! Send an eagle-borne message about what happened here to the Capital City. Execute Xuan Yue's entire family without exception!
As for him, Liu Zhou, I leave him to you!”
Shao Xuxue issued the order decisively.
When one is wrong, one must admit it; when beaten, one must stand straight!
Upon hearing Shao Xuxue's words, tears glimmered in the eyes of Liu Zhou and the others.
“Thank you, Great General Princess, for clearing our names!”
Terror filled Xuan Yue's eyes.
He could not even imagine how Liu Zhou would treat him!
“Open the city gates. I am going to see Li Zhen!”
After dealing with the matter, Shao Xuxue spoke coldly.
“Yes! However, Great General Princess, I personally saw Li Zhen's Wolf Cavalry. They are extremely elite. Let me lead the Northern Cold Pass Grand Army with you!” Wang Xiao knew Shao Xuxue's purpose, but if she went personally and something happened…
“Li Zhen? He will not attack me! Open the city gates. This is a military order!”
With that, Shao Xuxue urged her horse through the generals of the Northern Cold Pass.
“Great general…”
Wang Xiao was about to speak again when Zhao Bugui spurred his horse and followed.
“The princess has me to protect her. Open the city gates.”
Wang Xiao glanced at Zhao Bugui and nodded slightly.
He and Zhao Bugui held the same rank, but Zhao Bugui was Shao Xuji's trusted favorite, so things were different.
After the city gates opened, the two men and women sped out.
Wang Xiao ordered the deputy general to take charge of the Northern Cold Pass, then led several thousand personal guards after them.
Shao Xuxue had said she could handle the situation, but he had to follow.
Li Zhen was no longer the chancellor he had once been.
If anything happened, he could not afford to bear the consequences!
As Shao Xuxue drew closer and closer to Li Zhen, her heart involuntarily began to race.
The two had been separated for several months, and their identities were now completely different!
Her purpose in coming this time was to bring Li Zhen back to confess his crimes to her older brother. With her mediating between them, the matter would remain within her control!
As for the Black Cavalry who had died at Li Zhen's hands, that was not the main issue. Xuan Yue was the real problem.
The two raced across the Dan Prefecture Grasslands.
One hour later.
Shao Xuxue saw the Great Zhen Royal Court, whose outline had already emerged in the distance. The grand banner snapped in the wind!
The Wolf Cavalry on patrol at the entrance stared intently at the two.
This was Shao Xuxue's first time seeing the legendary Wolf Cavalry with her own eyes, and the sight still shocked her somewhat.
They truly were elite troops!
“Who goes there!”
Shuoyan Xiong rode forward and asked.
Zhao Bugui snorted coldly. “Are you blind, you barbarian? How dare you ask our names? Make Li Zhen come out here!”
……
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